In the 25m Duelling Pistol au commandement the shooters held the pistol at their side, loaded and cocked. As the range officer asked if they were ready. When they said, "Yes," the range officer then counted out, "Fire, one, two, three.", giving the commands at a cadence of 100 per minute. The shooter was required to get the shot off before the count of three.
The gun caliber allowed was between 7.5 and 12mm, with a barrel maximum length of 30cm. They were one shot pistols loaded by the muzzle or by the breechlock. The target was a silhouette of a human figure, with a life-like height of 1.57m and a maximum girth of 22.5cm. The 5-ring target was in the middle of the thorax with a height of 10cm and a width of 7.5cm. The competition was over 30 shots. A bulls-eye was worth 5 points, so a maximum score of 150 points was possible.
The other dueling event in 1906 was 20m Duelling Pistol au visé. In this event the shooters had ample time to make their shots. The gun regulations were the same as in au commandement, though the target was 19cm in diameter, with 10 rings of 1 cm diameter. The maximum possible score was 300 points. The target area for ths event was larger than for au commandement, and there was no mention of a human silhouette as a target.
The 25m Duelling Pistol au commandement was the forerunner of the Olympic Games rapid-fire pistol event. In 1912, there was a shooting event was held called men's 30 metre dueling pistol (later standardized by the IOC to the men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol) though in this case the competitors are are believed to have fired at a target not a coat wearing dummy.
